Cardio Zone Elliptical Trainers
April 5, 2008
CardioZone makes a number of similar elliptical trainers, falling into the lower price range than the Nautilus or Octane brands. They have four types of trainers, and each one is suited to different workouts and user needs.
The stride matches the users and is almost impact free, which is especially important to people with knee problems. The Cardio Zone is quiet because it’s so smooth.
The Cardio Zone Club E is the peak elliptical trainer of the series, designed for an intense workout. It is self-powered by an electromagnetic generator with forward and reverse. It consistently keeps track of your heart rate with handle sensors, and then adjusts the settings so that optimal heart rate and fat burning are consistently kept up through the workout. There are five different set programs in addition to the manual setting. The cost is approximately $1195.
The mid-range CardioZone Elite E has a heavier-duty frame and is suited for constant use in a gym or club environment. It has bigger foot platforms, an advanced display screen, and a magnetic drive system that doesn’t need a battery or plug. Like the Club E, it has a long range of motion and is both quiet and smooth. It retails for about $795.
What You Need to Know Before Buying a Pedometer
April 2, 2008
Question: What’s small, weighs about an ounce, and comes in dozens of different models? Answer: a Pedometer.
Would you have guessed it had I mentioned this item can help you lose weight, decrease your chance of diseases like hypertension, diabetes, and heart disease, and improve your overall fitness? Using a pedometer to count your steps is one of the cheapest and easiest ways available to improve your health and fitness.
The tremendous variety of pedometers available today make it difficult for people who want the health benefits of a pedometer to decide which one is right for them. There are flip-down cases versus open-face units. There are those that just count steps versus those that count steps, distance, calories and time. Some pedometers come with lights, radios, alarms, step filters, scanning, pacing, auto start/stop, memory, voice, and on and on.
The most important thing to decide is what features you need. The basics are steps, distance, calories, and time. If you’re doing a 10,000 step program or something similar, you will need to know your steps. They are the foundation for all other calculations within the pedometer.
Is A Heart Rate Monitor Right For You?
March 30, 2008
Exercise equipment, like Bowflex, Body by Jake etc., has advanced dramatically over the last 10 years. With the new technology, you can run on your treadmill at home and then slide it under your bed as a space saver. As a matter of fact, you can go to the, choose a program that will do just about everything for you, except exercise for you. Even with the smarter machines, more people still are not reaching their exercise goals. Why is that? The reason is because they were never shown how to exercise the proper way.
The "no pain no gain" concept is still alive in most gyms and even in the home. That concept makes a majority of people feel that exercise is just too hard. Does that sound maybe the way you think?
You put your time in either at the gym or on your home exercise equipment, but you just can’t seem to reach your goal or lose those last few pounds. And it’s not because you’re not trying. Are you sure are that you are exercising according to your goals you want to achieve? If not, a heart rate monitor just maybe what you need to get the results you looking for.
Cheap Elliptical Trainers - What You Dont Know Can Cost You Big Time
March 27, 2008
Should you ever consider purchasing a cheap elliptical trainer? It’s my position that you should purchase the best elliptical trainer that your budget allows. The elliptical trainers that I recommend all retail above $1000. Some of these are above $2000. No question, this is a substantial sum for most people, but you should keep in mind that this is an investment in your long term health and fitness. You want a machine that not only is enjoyable to use, but lasts for many years to come.
The very nature of elliptical trainers and treadmills for that matter, makes them prone to wear. As a result, they will need to be serviced at some point during their lifetime. Maybe even more than once. This is not meant to frighten you, quite the contrary, but to impress upon you that skimping on quality to save money is usually not good economics when it comes to elliptical trainers.
The other thing to keep in mind about cheap ellipticals is that they will probably wobble side-to-side during use and may even produce annoying squeaks due to cheap design. All of these problems are greatly magnified if you are heavy. The end result could very likely be a snapped bolt or damaged frame component. Toppling off an elliptical trainer while in full stride is a scary thought!
How To Build A $100 Home Gym That Delivers Results
March 24, 2008
So you want to save valuable time traveling to the gym by building your own home gym. Do to the long hours worked, and strenuous commutes, more and more people are opting to squeeze there workouts in by exercising in the comfort of their own homes.
There are many advantages to creating your very own home gym. It is shown that people who have home gym equipment in their homes tend to exercise more often. Let’s also not forget about saving valuable time, and money on monthly health club dues. It seems like all the new estates being built in Los Angeles plan for a room to be used for their own, personal home gym.
The only drawbacks to owning a home gym are its overwhelming cost, and space limitations. But wait, maybe not! Sure you can purchase individual station machines, a treadmill, a bike, and dozens of free weights. However, is that really needed to get outstanding results? Do you have to spend $10,000 plus to get yourself a home gym that really delivers results? The answer is absolutely not!
Yes, you can treat yourself to state of the art equipment, but will you get better results than a gym which costs less than $100? The answer is no!
Use of Lifting Belts During Strength Training Workouts
March 21, 2008
The decision of whether to use a lifting belt during exercise should be guided by the following information:
As mentioned in an earlier article on lower back pain, the deep stabilizing muscles of the lumbo-pelvic region (core) are suspected as having a "drum forming" effect ? that is the muscles contract simultaneously in a reflex (no conscious thought required in people without back pain) action to help stabilize the low back and allow forces to be transferred from the lower body to the upper body and vice versa. This action also has the effect of compressing the abdominal contents - composed primarily of water and very little gas; thus the name of this phenomenon is the "fluid ball" effect. Water as a liquid is essentially incompressible, so you can see how the presence of an internal pressurized fluid "ball" will lend stability to the pelvis and spine and actually help generate torque in the lift. For example, as you descend into a heavy squat, the muscles of the core and diaphragm begin to contract and generate tension on the fluid ball. As you squat deeper and your knees and hips flex more and more, the pelvis starts to tip forward and the large erector spinea muscles begin to lose their strength advantage due to a decreased muscle length. It is logical then to assume that the fluid ball acts as a "block" to prevent excessive spinal flexion and possible compressive damage to the intervertebral ligaments and discs.
Whirlpool Baths: The Way To Good Health
March 18, 2008
For hundreds of years, mankind has recognised the soothing, remedial effects of bathing. Several decades ago the medical profession acknowledged the benefits of hydrotherapy and began to prescribe the use of whirlpool baths as an effective treatment of many common physical ailments, a course of action that is now often used in clinics and hospitals around the world.
Hydro massage relieves the effects of stress, balances your bodies negative reaction to tension, relaxes muscles, lowers your heart rate and helps blood pressure and circulation return to normal.
Like a tightly compressed sponge, a tense muscle retains less fluid than one that is relaxed. This lessens the circulation of blood and increases the pressure placed on your heart. It can leave you feeling tired and aching, reducing your precious energy levels and making you feel irritable and lethargic.
Whirlpool hydro massage eases tense muscles and increases circulation, allowing the bodies cells to receive much-needed oxygen and energy-producing nutrients. Metabolic waste products are removed and your blood count increases, resulting in even better oxygen distribution.
How Trampolines Can Be Used In Competition
March 15, 2008
The first competitions were held in colleges and schools in the USA and then in Europe, with the first World Championships being held in London in 1964. Kurt Baechler of Switzerland and Ted Blake of England were the European pioneers and the first ever televised National Championships were in England in 1958.
Soon after the first World Championships, the inaugural meeting of prominent trampolinists was held in Frankfurt to explore the formation of an International Trampoline Federation. In 1965 in Twickenham, the Federation was formally recognised as the International governing body for the sport.
By 1969, the first European Championship was held in Paris and Paul Luxon of London was the winner at the age of 18. The ladies winner was Ute Czech from Germany. From that time onwards, European and World Championships have taken place in alternate years-the European in the odd and the World in the even.
At first, the Americans dominated the World Championships, but due to many lawsuits over trampolining, less was allowed in educational institutions and the high level of performance of the Americans went down. The Europeans gradually began to dominate the sport and in recent years, athletes from the former Soviet Union have almost completely dominated the sport.
Heart Rate Monitors - an Overview
March 12, 2008
A heart rate monitor is a device that allows users of exercise machines to check their heart rate whilst training. It usually consists of two elements, a wrist receiver and a chest strap. The chest strap uses electrodes to monitor your heart rate, and if the device is connected to your exercise machine, its console will show your heart rate to you. Wrist receivers usually come in the forms of watches that measure your pulse by calculating the time before blood pumps through your wrist veins. Heart rate monitors are becoming more and more popular and most high-quality exercise machines come with a heart rate monitor of their own.
If you are suffering from heart or blood pressure problems, having a heart rate monitor while training is a must. Not only will you be able to see how your heart handles physical effort, but you will also be able to control your heart rate by adjusting speed settings on the exercise machines. Some treadmills and elliptical trainers come with a built-in heart-rate management system, which automatically slows down the machine if your heart rate is too high. This is useful, as it helps avoid many heart-related problems that used to occur in the past with people training harder than their heart could handle.
A Natural History Of Trampolines
March 8, 2008
Walrus skins - It has been said that the first type of trampolining was done by the Eskimos who used to toss each other up into the air on a Walrus skin; something like the sheet used by firemen to catch people jumping out of the windows of houses which were on fire. In Anchorage Airport, Alaska, there are postcards depicting the Eskimos being tossed up in a Walrus skin.
There also is some evidence of people in England being tossed up into the air by a number of people holding a blanket. These may or may not be the true origins of the sport of trampolining but it is certain that in the early years of the 20th century there were stage acts which used a “bouncing bed” on the stage to amuse audiences. The bouncing bed was in reality a form of small trampoline covered by bedclothes on which the acrobats performed mostly comedy routines.
Trapeze artists
The trampoline itself, according to circus lore, was first developed by an artist called Du Trampolin who saw the possibility of using the trapeze safety net as a form of propulsion and landing device and experimented with different systems of suspension, eventually reducing the net to a practical size for separate performance.
